Derby's Potential

[Rattea]

Let's start with Stoke.

Capacity 28,383

Average Attendance:
2013-2014: 26,137 (Premier League)
2012-2013: 26,722 (Premier League)
2011-2012: 27,226 (Premier League)


So they are over nearly 2,000 off capacity and the attemdances are reducing year on year as I stated.

WBA

Capacity 26,500

Average Attendance:
2014-2015: 25,194 (Premier League)
2012-2013: 25,327 (Premier League)
2011-2012: 24,793 (Premier League)

Neither of these clubs have looked to increase capacity. They fill for a few games but take those away and you find the average plummets.

Fulham only wanted to redevelop and only looked at other sites when planning was refused. They then redeveloped to where they are now and were never pushed for needing more on an average basis.

West Ham are becoming tenants on the cheap. Will they fill a reduced capacity. Very unlikely. Look at where they are now.

Capacity 35,333

Solar to ours but they are exciting an opportunity at minimal risk to themselves and sell their grou

[swaledale]

Lots of factors affect attendances, a fall of a couple of thousand during an economic recession and Stoke and West Brom are hardly economic power house areas, is not unexpected, in fact its pretty damn good, so the theory that endless mid table prem football results in a fall off in attendance does not necessarily hold true.

Fulham didnt need the revenue, that may change under FFP rules but again the cost of expansion may not be repaid by revenues.

However, i wasn't suggesting that we need to expand, 30,000 average attendance is not unrealistic and we ought to be able to be sustainable should we ever reach the prem.

[Rattea]

My point was I beleive we know where as a potential of support is we are about there. 29k to 30k regularly is about it.

Catchment to attendance we are about the best supported club in the country. Burnley you include nelson and the conurbation.

Areas like Stoke have a higher level of people traditionally from the area than we do as we attract people into the city from industry. Burton is effectively the same as port ale to them.

There has been a big shift in the support demographic in this country in the last two decades and the die hard a are being replaced by corporates. They are attracted by success levels in results much as the TV can be. So mid table mediocrity will never balloon these but will lose these quickly. Look at the likes of Birmingham and middlesboro and how they lose supporters these day when they came down. There are other examples.

Unless we were challenging year in year out forneurope I can't see how we could significantly improve above what we know.